


guilty conscience

by Rehearsal_Dweller



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: House of Hades Spoilers, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-12
Updated: 2013-10-12
Packaged: 2017-12-29 03:47:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 773
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1000500
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rehearsal_Dweller/pseuds/Rehearsal_Dweller
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sometimes you just need somebody to remind you that you are loved.<br/>(Percy feels bad for not checking in on Nico after the whole jar thing went down and then just letting him run away after the Tartarus incident, so he pulls him aside for a little chat)</p>
            </blockquote>





	guilty conscience

**Author's Note:**

> All I want out of the next book is a chat between Nico and Percy and for Nico to survive.  
> (Also for them to win against Gaea, I suppose...)  
> That's all I want.  
> And until that day comes, I will continue to write shorts about the two of them chatting - confession optional.

Every time Percy had some down time, he’d slip away to his room and lay on his bed, staring at the ceiling. Ever since he and Annabeth had been in Tartarus, guilt had been nudging at the back of his mind. For someone whose fatal flaw was supposed to be  _loyalty_ , he’d left a lot of people in the dust.

But when he’d tried to start fixing that, Nico had pushed him away.

_Why did he do that?_

Percy should have tried harder to get Nico to talk to him. The kid had only recently gone through Tartarus  _alone_ , and then, from what Percy understood from Hazel and Jason, undergone some other ordeal on the way to Greece.

And Percy just let him run away.

_Some friend I am._

At that moment, Percy resolved to do better, next time. To find a minute to reassure Nico that he was loved, and not to take “Percy go away I’m tying myself to a statue” for an answer.

It was a long time before he got a chance to act on that resolution, however.

When Reyna and Nico next encountered the Argo II, there was a bit of a commotion (read: an attack) going on, and so despite Nico’s presence, it was a while before it was calm enough for Percy to grab him.

Problem was, Nico was still actively  _not_  seeking Percy out. So when Percy spotted Nico talking to Hazel, he took it as an opportunity.

“Hey, Hazel, can I borrow your brother for a minute?” he requested.

Hazel looked at Nico, whose expression Percy couldn’t see, and then said, “Go ahead. Piper and I have been hoping for some girl-time, I’ll go see if she’s free.” She waved as she walked around Nico and over to Piper and Reyna.

Nico turned to watch her go and Percy could have sworn that he looked almost afraid.

“What do you want?” Nico snapped.

“Woah, dude, I just want to  _talk_ ,” said Percy, taking a half-step back. “I was gonna say we should go below deck, but if you’re gonna act like that I might want protection.”

“No, I – it’s fine. Let’s go downstairs,” said Nico.

“Okay,” Percy replied warily. He led the way down to his quarters and flopped onto the bed. Nico stood awkwardly in the doorway. “Are you planning on standing there through this whole conversation, or are you going to come in here and sit down?”

After a moment, Nico crossed the room and sat on the edge of the bed across from Percy. “So, uh, what exactly did you want to talk to me about?”

“I – when Annabeth and I were in Tartarus, I realised – I’ve not been a very good friend to you. Ever, really. I pretty much jumped from treating you like a little kid to taking for granted that you could take care of yourself, and – and I’m _sorry._ ” The words came tumbling out of Percy’s mouth before he could really organise them. “You went into Tartarus alone and you  _survived_ , and Jason and Hazel told me that something else happened to you while you were coming to get us, and I don’t think anyone ever really checked in with you. And if they did… they weren’t me. I should have.”

Nico seemed stunned. He was still visibly on guard, but he seemed to relax a little. “You had more important things to do than make sure that  _I_  was okay.”

Percy frowned. “Nothing that I couldn’t have taken a few minutes away from to talk to you. After all the worrying I did when you’d been kidnapped, you’d think I would’ve said something.”

“You – you were  _worried_  about me? Hazel mentioned that you’d been angry that I didn’t tell you I knew you, not -”

“Are you kidding? Of course I was worried about you,” interrupted Percy. “You’re my friend and I care about you. How could I have  _not_  been worried?” He paused. “I mean, yeah, I was mad at first. But your life’s more important.”

“I, uh… thanks,” Nico mumbled.

“Okay, that’s – that’s all I had to say,” Percy said.

Nico stood up to leave.

“Wait, no, I lied. One more thing,” blurted Percy. “Look, I don’t know what went down in Croatia, but if you need somebody to talk to, my door’s always open. Metaphorically, I mean. Not literally. Leo sleepwalks.”

That pained look had returned to Nico’s face. “I won’t be taking you up on that.” He looked away from Percy and –  _is he_ crying _?_   _Oh gods, what did I do wrong this time?_ “Thanks, though.”

“I’m serious, man,” Percy said. “Any time.”


End file.
